Rising inflation has become a “stranglehold” for consumers, as they face continuous price increases on essential products and are forced to “dig deep into their pockets,” watching their income disappear faster and faster. Fruits, fish, and meat are showing significant price hikes, while forecasts for fall are not optimistic.
Apostolos Ravtopoulos on inflation: The price “explosion” is not justified
“According to ELSTAT data for July, what we see is that inflation increased for fruits by 19.3% compared to the corresponding July 2024,” said Apostolos Ravtopoulos, president of the Greek Workers and Consumers Union, speaking to MEGA.
“This major price explosion is not justified, because what happened last year due to drought, which resulted in very reduced production, this year we had very good production. So now both producers and farmers as well as merchants are looking to recover their losses,” he added.
As the president of the Greek Workers and Consumers Union further stated: “We see peaches, nectarines, and apricots remaining at high prices which at another time last year, for example, were almost at 80% of their current price. This year they are around 3.5 euros. Last year at this time they were around 1.5 to 2 euros.”
Apostolos Ravtopoulos: We see massive price increases in fruits
Meanwhile, Apostolos Ravtopoulos mentioned that there are already “massive” price increases in fruits, while further price hikes are expected in the fall. “We see massive price increases in fruits, as evidenced by ELSTAT data, but we don’t only see it in fruits, we see it in meat, we see it in fish, we see it in coffee, we see it in confectionery products,” he emphasized, noting: “The gap we see in price from farm to shelf is 3 to, in exceptional cases, even 10 times more than what the consumer pays compared to what the producer sells for.”
According to Mr. Ravtopoulos, “there will be further price increases in the fall. This is due to the significant increase in both labor costs, which are already in short supply, as well as pesticides, fertilizers, and everything else needed for producers and farmers to create their products. We will see larger increases in the coming months for these products.”
